Geneva 2009: Ford 'Maxes Out' Kinetic Design

Geneva 2009 saw Ford launch the third in a series of 'Kinetic design' Iosis concept cars. Following the Iosis, and Iosis X, here we have Iosis Max (Gavin Green says it sounds like an energy drink). As with the Iosis - which essentially became the Mondeo, and the Iosis X, which previewed the Kuga, most commentators expect the Iosis Max to preview the upcoming C-Max - Ford's European MPV, which competes with the likes of the Renault Scenic and Opel Zafira.

You can see my quick walkround, and overall take on the vehicle in the video below:

So this concept holds great significance, as it's the first vehicle to sit on Ford's new world Focus platform. In other words, the production version of the car you see above, looks likely to land in North America. This will no doubt cheer blue oval fans stateside, who've long been clamouring for Ford of Europe's sportier, more dynamic range of models.

This Focus platform is a pretty special one, too, for it is designed to accept a whole host of different engine technologies. This concept was launched with the new four cylinder, 1.6l EcoBoost gasoline engine - like Detroit's Lincoln C Concept. But according to Ford's director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Platforms Nancy Gioia, this platform will be capable of accepting not only petrol, diesel and hybrid motors, but full battery electric technology too (see the video for more on this).

Show goers could see what the underside of the electric versions of the future car might look like around the corner from the Iosis Max. Magna Steyr, Ford's EV partner, showcased the electric vehicle chassis and layout it is developing (watch the video below for more). It was largely ignored in a sea of shiny metal but it, and the battery electric Transit Connect sitting just to the other side, quietly demonstrate Ford's intent to go electric in a big way, something CEO Alan Mullaly affirmed yesterday.

All of this leads me to ask two questions. Firstly, can Ford make its global platform strategy work? American's say they want the dynamic European vehicles - Fiesta, Focus, S-Max. But Ford has brought euro-designed cars to the USA before - the first Focus, and the Mondeo (Contour) amongst others (Merkur XR4Ti anyone?) - and they didn't meet sales ambitions. The current economic and environmental climate suggests they should fair rather better this time, but if the production version of the car you see above is named Focus, I wonder if it will be hampered by association to the current - somewhat apologetic looking - North American Focus? (I've discussed this over on a blog with MPGOmatic, which you can check out here.)

The second question is a nagging doubt about how much further Kinetic design can be pushed. I was one of the few people in Geneva who wasn't hugely blown away by the Iosis Max. Plenty of commentators and designers have sung its praise over the past few days, but the hints of visual similarity to the Mercedes B-class - which come from its wheelbase and proportions, together with questionable colour/trim and the hinge-fest that are the doors and trunk lid, sullied a fundamentally sound idea in my eyes (watch the video above for my thoughts and the full tour). The question is, as this is the third in the series of 'Kinetic design' concepts, where do Ford - particularly Ford of Europe - go next, in design terms?

Kinetic design is intended to express - in the exterior form language of the vehicle - how 'fun to drive' and dynamic Ford's vehicles are. I'd say they've achieved that to some extent. Yet this vehicle was supposed to herald a new phase of design for Ford of Europe. Instead it feels like the topping out of the current form-language theme. So, rather like Mazda with their 'Flow' series of cars which appear at every auto show and feel rather long in the tooth, might Ford need a proper change of design gear before too long?Ford Iosis Max photoset below - click on the link to go to the full Flickr set. All photos are creative commons licensed, please credit Joseph Simpson and link to this page.

Disclosure: Ford is sponsoring The Movement Design Bureau's design research work throughout 2009